Introduction to Research Data Management

Joy Davidson

Digital Curation Centre

About this course

Short presentations with exercises and discussion

Research Data Management Landscape Introduction to Data Sharing and Data Management

Planning Data management planning exercise DMPonline demonstration

Data Management Planning

Data Management Planning

Research Data Management Landscape

“Data sets are becoming the

new instruments of science”

Dan Atkins, University of Michigan

Digital data as the new special

collections?

Sayeed Choudhury, Johns Hopkins

Research data: institutional

crown jewels?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lifes__too_short__to__drink__cheap__wine/4754234186/

Exceptions to copyright

*Reforms to copyright law come into force on 1st June*

The exceptions coming into force today will bring a range of benefits to a wide range of groups:

• Researchers will benefit from the introduction of the new text and data mining exception for non-commercial research, as well as the reforms to existing

• Libraries, archives and museums will now be better able to protect our cultural heritage and preserve their collections. The existing preservation exception has been expanded to cover all types of copyright work, and now applies to museums and galleries as well as libraries and archives.

Funders’ expectations of public access

“Publicly funded research data are a public good, produced in the public interest, which should be made openly available with as few restrictions as possible in a timely and responsible manner that

does not harm intellectual property.”

RCUK Common Principles on Data Policyhttp://www.rcuk.ac.uk/research/Pages/DataPolicy.aspx

Research funder data policies

www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/policy-and-legal/ overview-funders-data-policies

Ultimately funders expect:

timely release of data- once patents are filed or on (acceptance for) publication

open data sharing- minimal or no restrictions if possible

preservation of data - typically 5-10+ years if of long-term value

See the RCUK Common Principles on Data Policy: www.rcuk.ac.uk/research/Pages/DataPolicy.aspx

“Research organisations will ensure that effective data curation is provided throughout the full data lifecycle,

with ‘data curation’ and ‘data lifecycle’ being as defined by the Digital Curation Centre. The full range of responsibilities associated with data curation over

the data lifecycle will be clearly allocated...”

www.epsrc.ac.uk/about/standards/researchdata/Pages/expectations.aspx

...institutional responsibility

Data Management Planning

Data Management Planning

Research Data Management Costs

Research funders’ policies

www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/policy-and-legal/overview-funders-data-policies

Key differences in policies

Preservation periods range from 3 years to in perpetuity most funders ask for 10+ years

ESRC and NERC may withhold the final grant payment if data aren’t offered for deposit

Cancer Research UK states explicitly that it will NOT provide additional funds for RDM

What RDM cost can be included?

Need to distinguish between the costs that are incurred during a project and those that arise afterwards.

In-project (direct) costs: covers hardware, staff, expenses, costs of preparing data &

metadata...

Post project (largely indirect) costs: existing services should be used where possible where an institution is going to provide a data repository, costs

should be met through FEC outsourcing to a third-party is also an option

Owing to its charity status, the Wellcome Trust in general only pays directly incurred costs.

How should costs be included?

In-project costs should be included in the direct costs for a project

Post-project costs could be direct (e.g. charges levied by data centres) but typically fall into indirects as universities should provide infrastructure to support RDM

The Justifications of Resources should, where possible, separate out the following RDM cost elements: cost of collecting data the cost of curating data the cost of analysing data the cost of preservation and sharing

Key messages Research data management should not be regarded as optional.

DMPs should make clear what is provided and what activities are being charged against a grant

The cost of RDM is project-specific and entirely depends on the type of work.

It may be possible to set up small research facilities to recover the cost of RDM (e.g. similar to provision of HPC), possibly as a cross-institutional service.